After breakfast, Mom was doing housework in the kitchen. She talked to Tom
It was Christmastime 1974. I was ten years old, but I was not looking forward to Christmas. The previous spring my mother had moved our family from rural Alabama to sunny Southern California. My little brother Todd, and I were leaving behind all of our extended family. This would be my first Christmas away from Alabama.
I was a fat, awkward child with a high-pitched voice and a heavy southern accent. My first day at my new school, I went to the front of my fourth grade class to introduce myself. All I said was my name and where I was from. The class burst into laughter with jeers of “He talks funny”. It took the teacher two minutes to restore order.
I was so disappointed that I went to a gas station afterschool and used the phone booth (亭子) there to place a call to my grandmother. I was going to ask her whether I could return to Alabama and live with her and whether she would send me the money for a bus ticket home. But the line was busy, and despite several attempts, I didn’t get through.
My Granny was everything good about Christmas. Her language of love was food. She would spend weeks cooking for Christmas Eve when all of her children and grandchildren would gather at her house. Every favorite dish dessert and cakes was made. Her table and sideboard groaned (发吱嘎声) under the weight of the food. My cousins, my brother and I would burst through her backdoor, our arrival announced by the rhyme of five silver bells, which hung on the door. Her house was tiny but to us children, it was glorious.
She sewed new night dresses for all of her grandchildren. She searched catalogs, newspaper advertisements, and stores all over town to get us exactly the toys we had requested. She was my comfort. She was magical. I missed her desperately.
Fortunately, there was only one week left before the Christmas break. I was longing for my familiar southern Christmas.
注意：1.续写的词数应为150左右;
2.请按如下格式在答题卡的相应位置作答。
The next morning, a large enough package from Granny was delivered to our new house.
_____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________Just then the phone rang.
_____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________3 . The Language of Flowers
Ding dong! I looked up from the couch. Who in the world could that be? My body was troubled with illness, so I’d
I
Instead of returning to the couch, I
The group had followed him and picked very
The more I understood what the flowers were
| A．hidden | B．given | C．driven | D．broken |
| A．forbid | B．accept | C．act | D．respond |
| A．cautiously | B．reluctantly | C．instantly | D．cheerfully |
| A．size | B．style | C．uniqueness | D．shape |
| A．go together | B．stand out | C．mix up | D．fade away |
| A．informed | B．thanked | C．rewarded | D．telephoned |
| A．delivery | B．program | C．mystery | D．scene |
| A．companion | B．message | C．commitment | D．gift |
| A．expensive | B．rare | C．specific | D．fresh |
| A．explained | B．clarified | C．defined | D．analyzed |
| A．pain | B．fortune | C．sympathy | D．sunshine |
| A．modest | B．tolerant | C．formal | D．meaningful |
| A．involving | B．saying | C．smelling | D．signing |
| A．advocated | B．confirmed | C．required | D．earned |
| A．ambition | B．value | C．curiosity | D．fantasy |
Her pale face stood out against the blackness of her hair. She looked much younger than her fifteen years, a worn coat hanging loose above her. We weren’t supposed to take a child, but an emergency call came through that morning. A home was needed for a young girl immediately.
I, together with four children, hurried to get her room ready. The kids were great. Joanne, our second-eldest daughter, did the cleaning and Margaret, Rob and Jeff helped make the bed. I felt my heart pounding in my chest. I was excited, but scared at the same time because I was told an adopted child might give us a lot of trouble.
That afternoon, Trudy arrived with the social worker Mrs. Kline. She stepped into the front hall and stood against the wall. I will never forget the look in her eyes. The first thing that came to my mind was that she looked like a hunted animal. The children moved towards her, and Jeff grabbed her hand and said proudly, “Come and see your room. I helped make your bed.” Trudy pulled back, speechless.
At this point, I stepped towards her and said, "Welcome to our home, Trudy. “She looked at me with such blank eyes. But with her head bowed, she simply said, eyes moving back and forth like a creature looking for a way out, “No, thank you.”
For the first two weeks, Trudy was very quiet. She would come into the kitchen while I was working, and we would discuss school and what she would like to do in the future. Mrs. Kline had given us all the information about her history, but I never mentioned the terrible things that had happened to her.
As the days went by, Trudy became a delight to have around. Very quickly, it seemed like she had always been with us. The girls would sit in each other’s rooms and giggle(咯咯笑) like typical teenagers. It was a sound that warmed my soul. However, when they talked about new clothes, Trudy fell silent again.
注意:1. 续写词数应为150左右;
2. 请按如下格式在答题卡的相应位置作答。
I took Joanne shopping for a winter coat, and Trudy came too.
________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________Back home, I presented the jacket Trudy had tried on.
________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________Mama and Papa were like most parents. They wanted the best for their kids. Jeff and Jenna were like most kids. They wanted the best for themselves－the best place in front of the TV, the biggest piece of cake and the most candies.
One night, when the noisy kids were sound asleep, Mama lay awake worrying. She sighed a big sigh, thinking how to teach Jeff and Jenna to mend their selfish ways. Lecturing didn’t work.
As Mama lay there, she thought about how kids learn. Kids learn by doing. They learn to walk by walking. That’s the answer, thought Mama. The kids will learn to help others by helping others. But questions of who, when, and where went unanswered as she drifted off to sleep.
To her pleasure, those questions were soon answered. The next day, they happened to meet Mrs. Marie, the elderly widow who lived just down the road, at the checkout line at the supermarket.
Mama asked the kids to say hello to Mrs. Marie, about whom the kids were a little nervous. She was really old and kind of bent over. And there was that crooked cane she used when she walked. But the real reason they were nervous about her was that two days ago their ball had gone into her yard and knocked over some flowers in the garden and broke the glasses of the attic. They had never apologized.
When Mama and the kids were loading their groceries into the car, Mrs. Marie came out of the supermarket pushing her little collapsible shopping cart.
“Where are you going?” called Mama.
“To the bus stop,” she said, “The bus goes right by my house.” “So does our car,” said Mama.
注意:1. 续写词数应为 150 左右；
2. 请按如下格式在答题卡的相应位置作答。
Mama asked the kids to help Mrs. Marie into the car and put her things in the trunk(后备箱).
________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________As the car was approaching Mrs. Marie`s house, Mama made a decision.
________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________Lost But Not Forgotten
Dad said this could happen. I never believed him. But he was right. So here I am, right in the middle of it. All alone. No one to help me but myself. Two questions come to mind as I sit under this tree, freezing in the snow. How did I get here, and why me?
The first answer is pretty simple. I got lost. Actually it’s more complicated than that. I didn’t pay attention to the boundary signs. I thought the snow looked pretty good. So I told my friend Benito that I’d meet him at the bottom of the hill in twenty minutes. How was I to know a blizzard (暴风雪) was coming? How was I to know that my tracks would disappear?
As for the second question, the answer is obvious. Why me? Because I’m always doing stupid things. Opening my mouth when I should keep it shut. Breaking things I shouldn’t be touching. And in this case, wandering off where I had no business going.
If Dad were here, I know exactly what he’d be saying. I told you this would happen, Deke. Now what are you going to do about it?
The snow just won’t stop falling. It’s getting harder to see, and I’m tired of walking. I’m tired of yelling. No one will hear me. So now I’m sitting under a tree, watching the snow pile up on my clothes. I can barely see my snowboard. It’s a gray shadow in a curtain of white.
What would it be like, I wonder, freezing to death? Don’t just sit there. Build a cave. That’s what Dad would say. But he died in a hospital bed, so he can’t say anything to me anymore. Build a cave. “With what?” I say. “I don’t have a tool. My hands are freezing. There must be something you can use. I look around. All I see are snow-covered trees. Come on, Deke. Use your head. “Like I’m going to dig a cave with my head? I don’t think so.” Then it hits me. The snowboards. I get up. Look for the side of a hill. “I know. I know”.
注意：1.续写的词数应为150左右;
2.请按如下格式在答题卡的相应位置作答。
I start to dig.
________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________Now it’s too dark to see, but I think the cave is finished.
________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________7 . I survey the pile of dirty dishes jamming the sink after the party. With no working
Hot water
My three daughters, now, are
The dishes are done, and the sink is
| A．dish-washer | B．hand-drier | C．rice-cooker | D．air-conditioner |
| A．washing | B．filling | C．heating | D．leaking |
| A．coldness | B．darkness | C．warmth | D．length |
| A．leave | B．stop | C．witness | D．recall |
| A．knife | B．dish | C．spoon | D．fork |
| A．settings | B．manners | C．patterns | D．arrangements |
| A．appetite | B．sense | C．weight | D．direction |
| A．chance | B．power | C．honor | D．struggle |
| A．born | B．gone | C．abandoned | D．married |
| A．sisters | B．daughters | C．children | D．friends |
| A．on good terms | B．on active duties | C．in great need | D．in big trouble |
| A．ride | B．find | C．steal | D．buy |
| A．fade away | B．flood back | C．go far | D．bury deep |
| A．clean | B．empty | C．dirty | D．sticky |
| A．saving | B．engaging | C．reminding | D．attracting |
8 . When I was 7 and Stevie was 6, our parents taught us how to play chess and other games. Playing games was our life back then. Stevie and I were very competitive in everything.
We got older and better so our games were more intense, but also more exciting. The strange thing is that I enjoyed the games vastly and was happy for my brother when he won. But afterwards, I felt my well-being threatened, and then my confidence suffered.
When I was 10 years old I wanted to be successful at my talents. One day, a light came on in my head. I had to find something Stevie couldn’t do. It would have to be unique in every way. Before long, I got Jimmy Nelson’s record on “How to Become a Ventriloquist (腹语师)” and I practiced faithfully every day. After summer vacation, I did my first show for my class. The response was favorable. I performed for family get-togethers and did shows on a number of occasions to practice my new skill.
It isn’t easy learning ventriloquism. The difficult part was developing the voice, because at first, it was soft and hard to hear. I memorized the routines and performed more. With time, I got better responses. The loud laughter was nonstop, in addition to the applause.
Four years later, my mother purchased professional ventriloquial figure, which I named Freddie O’Sullivan. He was lifelike, with moving eyes, moving eyebrows, and could stick out his tongue. Treating Freddie like a real person enhanced my performance.
In college, Freddie was well known. He would tell people that he was the only guy that could sleep in the girl’s dormitory. Over the years, I won many talent awards.
One time, an elderly man looked at Freddie attentively and asked him where he got his trousers. The audience nearby had tears in their eyes. I didn’t know what was going on until I was told later the gentleman hadn’t spoken for 20 years.
Thanks to my brother, I created a lifetime with Freddie.
1. How did the author feel at first when Stevie won a game?| A．Delighted. | B．Confused. |
| C．Depressed. | D．Surprised, |
| A．To gain her parents’ favor in family get-togethers. |
| B．To record her intense and competitive childhood. |
| C．To have a special talent better than her brother. |
| D．To bring joyous laughter to people around her. |
| A．Freddie trained the author professionally. |
| B．Freddie inspired an old man to restart to talk. |
| C．Freddie took the place of the author’s brother. |
| D．Freddie disturbed others in the girl’s dormitory. |
| A．Generous and grateful. | B．Modest and responsible. |
| C．Patient and honest. | D．Sensitive and determined. |
9 . My mother used to take me to my grandparents’ in Belgium during the school holidays. While I would play chess with my grandfather, he would tell me stories about growing up, falling in love, and travelling around the world.
I didn’t realize the importance of preserving memories until my grandfather passed away, which ultimately changed my outlook on remembering our loved ones and the stories we share. I thought about solutions to help other people record the precious memories for those they love—before it’s too late. So I began matching ghostwriters (代笔人) to clients to help them write a book as smoothly and beautifully as possible, and Story Terrace was born.
Since then, we have explored the power of stories and their ability to connect us with our past and make sense of the present. It has been documented that increased family connection is significantly linked to less loneliness. Learning more about one’s family history, however, has been linked to boosting emotional health, increasing compassion and providing a deeper sense of cultures and traditions.
What we have found through our own research is that so many of us have missed out on the opportunity to explore our origins. 56 percent of Brits agreed that much of their family history is lost because they are no longer able to speak with the person who knows the most about it. A further 51 percent expressed regret as they wished they could tell their younger self to document their family’s life story, feeling that most of it had been forgotten. But when it comes to telling these stories, many don’t know where to begin.
We have seen numerous times when people come to us with random journal entries and notes from over the years, and these can be developed into a wonderful work of art that can be passed down for generations to come.
Half of the projects we see at StoryTerrace are heritage stories, with family occupying a dominant theme for most stories. Alongside this, common themes we see are of course love, overcoming challenges, settling in new surroundings and so on. However, family is a thread that always ties these together.
1. What does Story Terrace do?| A．It boosts the mood of your family members. |
| B．It gives treatment to people with mental illness. |
| C．It links people from different cultures together. |
| D．It helps turn your beloved one’s stories into a book. |
| A．Why StoryTerrace matters. |
| B．How StoryTerrace functions. |
| C．What StoryTerrace focuses on. |
| D．Where StoryTerrace beings your story. |
| A．It is part of the national heritage. |
| B．Its stories are mostly about family. |
| C．It dominates half of the market. |
| D．Its stories gain much popularity. |
| A．Family Stories Worth Telling |
| B．Create Your Own Story Books |
| C．Documents of Family History |
| D．Preserve Memories with StoryTerrace |
10 . Growing up, I was fortunate to have dinner with my family almost every day. Sometimes, the family dinner circle
Apart from suffering from
I am aware that my sons are growing up quickly and will be out of the
| A．widened | B．formed | C．lessened | D．closed |
| A．missed | B．avoided | C．enjoyed | D．recorded |
| A．wasted | B．treasured | C．limited | D．calculated |
| A．shows | B．dishes | C．recipes | D．moments |
| A．However | B．Otherwise | C．Therefore | D．Besides |
| A．sleep | B．dine | C．study | D．play |
| A．suitable | B．flexible | C．satisfying | D．demanding |
| A．maintains | B．disturbs | C．improves | D．strikes |
| A．fear | B．anger | C．guilt | D．hunger |
| A．predict | B．create | C．evaluate | D．accept |
| A．work out | B．calm down | C．hold on | D．catch up |
| A．unwillingly | B．casually | C．consciously | D．carelessly |
| A．louder | B．shorter | C．simpler | D．sweeter |
| A．assists | B．guides | C．allows | D．orders |
| A．office | B．kitchen | C．house | D．park |
